• Bright Spot, Inc. -- High School Mathematics Tutoring -- i.d 9245891
• United States Coast Guard -- Human Resources (Student Trainee) -- i.d. 9250696
• Careers in ARS -- U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Multiple Posting (April 5) -- i.d. 9250704
• Citelighter -- Knowledge Expert -- i.d. 9250801

Martin Onuegbu
Frederic Worden, Associate Professor, Department of Visual Arts

AC IV A 110  |  2:00 - 2:10 p.m.

Life Is Like Basketball is a narrative film depicting a young man’s struggles in his life and makes use of the game of basketball as a metaphorical representation of those struggles. This short movie presents a dazzling array of action shots and makes use of special effects to tell an epic story of a boy named Ron battling a variety of foes. These battles unfold both on a basketball court as well as in an imaginary trial room in his mind. As the story progresses, the protagonist overcomes his foes through his determination as well as his fantastic basketball skills. This film is intended to be both entertaining, as well as an in-depth character study of a man striving to overcome the obstacles in his life. Both the visual imagery and the original musical soundtrack are designed to communicate and articulate the character’s struggles. The hope is that the film will both entertain as well as make viewers think about the sources of inspiration that can be called upon to rise above some of life’s more challenging obstacles.

Morgan A. Madeira

Anupam Joshi, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

UC Ballroom  |  10:00-12:30 PM

Social media has increasingly become an outlet for expression for a large part of our society. Literature suggests that analyzing data from these sites can lead to improvements in areas such as health-care and search-ad targeting. Users of these sites often associate with many other users described as “friends,” even if they do not have a strong connection, or what would be described as friendship in daily life. It is valuable to determine the strength of relationships between users and to identify communities within social networks. These communities represent people with similar characteristics, which are used by applications to solve many real-world problems. For instance, it is useful to identify groups that listen to the same type of music, are similarly affected by a natural disaster, or share health risks for a particular disease. We have created a system to collect and analyze the data about user characteristics, while being respectful of privacy concerns. The system is composed of a front end Facebook application and a back end machine-learning based tool. The front end component gathers data about a user and their friends. The back end uses the collected data and machine-learning techniques to determine relationships between users.

This work was funded through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Office of Undergraduate Education.

Eva Jannotta

Jessica Berman, Associate Professor, Department of English

UC 310  |  10:15-10:30 AM

Contemporary popular fiction novels written by and for women, often called “chick-lit” novels, are a genre frequently derided by the media and literary critics. Yet their commercial success and popularity attest to their importance and relevance to contemporary women readers. My research examines chick-lit novels from a Gender and Women's Studies and literary criticism perspective. I first analyze nine novels for the ways in which they imagine and represent contemporary white professional women, paying particular attention to portrayals of female relationships, feminism, careers, and the perpetuation of whiteness as an invisible racial category. I then analyze three chick-lit novels in-depth, exploring them as contemporary revisions of fairy tales. Using folktale and postfeminist theory I explore how chick-lit novels masquerade as verisimilitude and disguise their elements of fantasy, thereby attempting to persuade the reader to believe in the fairy tale and feel reassured by it. My research illuminates the hopes and anxieties of contemporary white professional women as portrayed through the novels they read and write. Understanding the dynamics reflected in chick-lit novels and the fairy tale tropes these novels deploy allows readers and critics to understand the function, appeal and insight of chick-lit novels despite their dubious reputation.

*This work was funded through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Office of Undergraduate Education.

Romans 6:1-14 (NIV)

¹What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—⁷because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Reflection

Once when being taught about baptism, a four year old responded, “I know what baptism is, I get baptized everyday in my bathtub.” While there is an aspect of cleansing that takes place in baptism, the experience is richer as we see in this passage. Baptism is placed parallel to Christ’s death and resurrection and captures not just a being made clean from sin, but a complete dying and separation from sin and old ways. With Christ we are raised to a new life that is no longer under the same control. Not that we are no longer able to sin, but the power that sin once had has been broken. Sin is completely out of place and unfitting for those in Christ. And by the power and grace of God it is something that we can leave behind.

Responding to the Transmission

This is all possible because Christ went first, in death and in resurrection. We can be united with Him in both, dead to the old and lifted up out of the water into the new. We are now free to live in the grace of God. Our old sinful living has been crucified with Christ, so that we are no longer slaves to sin. So, let’s not stay in the old. Let’s pray that we would experience this grace daily in our lives. Let’s pray that God would be glorified as we live in resurrection power. Let’s pray that would be instruments of His righteousness on our campuses, in our communities and cities.

Be the Change You Wish To See in the World!

Apply to become an AmeriCorps VISTA

with UMBC’s Service-Learning Program!

Through partnership with the Maryland-Washington, DC Campus Compact (MDCCC), the AmeriCorps VISTA position will provide leadership in the design and implementation of the Service-Learning & School-Family Connections MDCCC-VISTA project and will serve as the liaison between UMBC and its school partner.  The MDCCC-VISTA will meet with teachers and administrators to devise a plan for increasing student engagement in the Homework Club and will create surveys and assessments to ensure that data is measured on a regular basis.  The Information Workshops for parents will address the school’s commitment to provide school-family support.  The MDCCC-VISTA will meet with school administrators and parents to create a curriculum plan for the sessions that she or he will also implement and facilitate; surveys and other assessments will be created to ensure that data from sessions is assessed.  The MDCCC-VISTA will also recruit UMBC students to participate in service-learning activities that leverage the resources of the campus to meet the volunteer needs of local community programs.   

What is AmeriCorps VISTA?

• AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. 
• VISTA members serve as full-time volunteers, organizing and implementing programs that build the capacity of organizations while making resources available to communities in need.

What are the benefits of serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA?

• The VISTA member will receive health insurance, a travel allowance (for work-related meetings and events), and a taxable living allowance of approximately $13,000 for their year of service.
• After successfully completing the service year, the VISTA will be eligible to receive either $1,200 in cash or an AmeriCorps Education Award of $5,550 that can be used toward the repayment of student loans or school tuition.  

What are the eligibility requirements to be a VISTA?

• A Bachelor’s Degree and driver’s license is required by the start of the VISTA year.
• Commitment to provide one year of full-time service (8/15/12-8/14/13).  
• Desire to work on-campus and with a local school partner to combat poverty.

How can I apply?

• Complete the enclosed Intent to Apply Form and email it to Clare Greene (clare6@umbc.edu) in the Service-Learning Program at The Shriver Center at UMBC.  Only emailed submissions will be accepted.  Eligible applicants will be contacted for an interview.
• For more information about the AmeriCorps VISTA program, visit: http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/choose/vista.asp.

ALL INTENT TO APPLY FORMS MUST BE EMAILED TO clare6@umbc.edu

By 5pm on Friday, April 27^th, 2012.